Vegan Coconut Layer Cake (Quilting Bee, Cutting Corners And Oodles of Needles)

I love coconut. My love of coconut in cake form began with the first frozen Sara Lee Coconut Cake my mother brought home and hid in the freezer. My love of coconut in candy bar form began with my first Almond Joy. It was all down hill from there. Then Saturday as I tinkered away on my sewing machine, watching America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimball (who can sometimes wear on my nerves) was all agog about their "tested" coconut layer cake recipe and the "perfected" version they'd created--lots of mmmm's and ahhhhh's later, I was in my kitchen whipping this darling up my way: vegan. ATK should be called: Testing And Making The "Best" of Any And All things Bad for You. Seriously, it's not a show I'd recommend to anyone diabetic or on a strict eating regimen.

I had to show the full monty here. This cake screams to either be taken to a wedding or eaten.

We opted for "eating". 

My very long sweater project from my favorite knitwear designer Cathy Carron. Lots of "eyelet" going on here so if you are in need of an eyelet workout, this sweater will fix that for you. The pattern appeared in Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010 issue.

Here's a shot of the finished pattern from the magazine.

Then I was checking out one of my favorite blogs last week and stumbled upon One Hot Stove's finished Babette Blanket! It was gorgeous (seriously, go check it out!). And she was going to give it to a friend no less. I imagine this project will take me at least a year to complete and it will NOT be going anywhere except on my lap! I am in "baby step" stage here as I re-taught myself to crochet when I bought Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker a few years ago and all was right with the world again. I am not happy with my first Babette square and have been practicing my "square" from a youtube video.

This is a nice shot of the finished Babette from the designer. How lovely is that? How crazy are the directions there on the right, thus my need for youtube intervention. Reading crochet instructions for me is like trying to decipher tax forms. It's all just gibberish. I am determined to correct this "dyslexia" thing I get while reading crochet patterns and will be visiting my LYS this week for further tutoring.

And then there was this. . . an old stowaway from my cedar chest. It was a "grief" purchase I "just had to have" after my mom died. I sewed this horrific beginner polar fleece, zip up, tie waist pull over jacket (with polar bears on it!--some serious grief blindness was happening then) and didn't touch the machine for thirteen years when suddenly I had an urge to "quilt". (And Mr. Polar Bear is long gone, trust me.) And so I did--quilt, that is. I called a local sewing store and begged for some instruction because in my "grief" state, I had thrown away the instructions for my machine. After over an hour of one-on-one with this very sympathetic woman (paying for the time, of course)--I was so taken with the quilts displayed in the store--I then signed up for a quilting class that afternoon, too! Seven hours of sewing in one day--I was in heaven! That's what happens when you are almost fifty--hormones rule and guide and you must abide by their calling.

I so love sewing--I've missed you! I picked out these colors to coordinate with our living room. The woman that taught the class called this a Rail Fence Quilt. I am going to call it "The Kelly Quilt" when I finish it! Of course I was in a class with other women who had waaay better sewing machines than mine and who had not just lugged theirs up to the store from the recess of an old cedar chest. I'm talking machine quilters who invested over a thousand dollars for their machines and here I was with my three-hundred dollar Wal Mart special from eons ago. Plus, there was the seven thousand dollar model that greeted me as I stepped into the store. (Which for me would be a new car.) I asked my sewing helper what that $7k machine does that mine doesn't--like, would it cut the pattern out and cook me dinner? 

Here's the aerial shot of the SFG right now. We've not had sun for like five days now and temps are rather cool, like long-sleeved weather cool--and from this shot, you can see today. . . still no sun. I am in a slow decline with all things "gardening" because of this. I need sun to thrive. My roses love this weather. We are heading for another week of forecasted rain and flooding and more sugar and prozac-like eating for me.

So as you can see from the many diversions I've taken, I still love cake! And damn if I wasn't determined to make that coconut layer cake. My ire was really up when I went to the ATK site only to find some lame "you must give us your credit card number for your free two week trial and view of this recipe plus our millions of others and then we will bill you thirty dollars for a one year subscription after that". And I was like: I. Don't. Think. So.--and found my own cake recipe giving it a very good vegan spin. Oh how I hate the internet games sometimes. Plus being married to a guru in the art of all things computer, (he is very, very savvy and techie) and after consulting him then getting this response, "That is a bunch of BS, don't give them a dime" lecture, I opted to get cake creative in my own way.

Such has been my life as of late. Indoors a lot, fighting the urge to indulge in entire days of

sleeping. And because of this gloomy, grey cast stuff, I find myself clinging to my cup of coffee until noon. It's even impacted my running. I lose all interest in taking to the streets in downpours. I really abhor the gym and will only go with visor on and book in hand, only to sit and stare out the window trying like hell to get in at least three miles of a good run on the "dreadmill". This weather is sucking the life out of me right now. It may as well be February for all I care. But that doesn't stop me from wanting cake.

Since I am on my mid-moring decline right about now, I'll get to the cake recipe and hope that as the week progresses I am not in such a "mood" and will have more to share with you. I mean, I am in a "mood" in the negative here. Cake therapy helps. So does sharing.

The inspiration for this wonderful cake comes to you via Cakes from Scratch in Half The Time by Linda West Eckhardt. I had some serious modifications to make owing to the recipe calling for egg yolks (as most coconut cake recipes call for at least four, some up to six eggs)--I was worried. But fear not. As this cake was being consumed by Mr. Thyme and me Saturday night, he said, "Wow, this is the best white cake I think I've ever had--it is seriously good." And I said, "Yeah, like a wedding cake, white cake good!" And more eating went on. With the layers of toasted coconut gracing the frosting after each layer is added, it is just a ton of yum. I will caution you that this cake is VERY rich! And VERY crave-worthy!

Vegan Coconut Layer Cake

2 3/4 cup sifted cake flour (Measure out, sift, then re-measure. I weighed mine at 4 oz. each cup.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tesapoon salt

4 eggs (6 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 8 tablespoons warm water)

1 stick unsalted vegetable spread

1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 3/4 cups super fine baking sugar (you can use the regular, but trust me the super fine sugar helps!)

1 cup canned cream of coconut--not coconut milk (reserve the rest for the frosting)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (you need this for sure, so make sure you have some on hand)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil with a baking flour spray, three 8" cake pans. Then, cut out parchment paper liners to fit in the bottom of each pan. Spray paper again. In a medium glass bowl, add all the Ener-G Egg Replacer. You will then whip this until it forms peaks. It may not form "peaks" in the traditional sense of peaks, but it will stiffen up. This will take a few minutes to accomplish. Set aside when finished. Next, prep the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Sift together. Next, cream the margerine, and sugar. Next add the extracts and cream of coconut and mix well. Then, alternately to this mixture, add the flour ingredients and then a bit of the soy milk mixture, alternating each. Mix well with blender after each addition. Don't go over board on the mixing, there may be a few lumps, just make sure you have all of the dough wet. Next, fold in the egg white mixture you've made. By folding in I mean, take a spatula and gently fold the egg white stuff into the dough. Divide the batter equally into the three cake pans. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. *Go ahead and start on the frosting. Remove cakes pans from oven. Allow to cool completely in pans. Get your cake keeper out and make sure it's one that will fit in your fridge--this cake is BEST when served cold.

For the frosting and toasting the coconut:

1 stick Earth Balance

1 8 oz. canister of tofu cream cheese

1/8 cup cream of coconut

1 teaspoon coconut extract

3 or more cups powdered sugar

1 bag of sweetened coconut

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and Earth Balance together until smooth. Next add the cream of coconut. Blend until incorporated. Add the extract and about a cup of powdered sugar. Blend until the mixture begins to look smoother. Add cups of powdered sugar in increments blending well after each addition. You may find you need to add about four cups of sugar--just use your own judgement. You need to have it sort of stiff for the frosting to hold the cake layers together. Preheat oven to 400. Take the shredded coconut and spread it out on a cookie sheet. Place in oven and only allow to bake like 3 minutes. Mix with a wooden spoon. Then bake again for about another minute. The coconut browns really fast--so don't go watching TV or anything--just stand there and keep an eye on it! Remove from oven and toss it around a bit more allowing it to cool on the cookie sheet. Frosting the cake goes like this. Lay your first layer of cake down, frost it, then take a handful of the cooled coconut and sprinkle it over this layer. Repeat this with the next layer. Then, on the final top layer and sides, really give the cake a good coconut dusting. Take handfuls of the coconut and sort of hold them to the side of the frosted cake. The coconut should stick. Place in fridge for storage. But go ahead and dig in now and enjoy!